Outstanding Businesses Raising Dividends

It takes an outstanding business to increase dividends for decades, and outstanding businesses are often outstanding long-term investments. Weak businesses simply can't and don't raise dividends for decades. Below I have highlighted ten exceptional businesses, each of which has raised distributions for over 5 years in a row, and which also announced dividend increases over the past week: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD) provides midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products, and petrochemicals in North America. This master limited partnership announced increase in quarterly distributions to 60.50 cents/unit, which represents a 5.2 percent increase over the $0.575 per unit distribution rate declared with respect to the second quarter of 2010. Enterprise Product Partners is a dividend achiever, which has consistently increased distributions for 14 years in a row. Yield: 5.60% Walgreen Co. (WBA), together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of a chain of drugstores in the United States, increased its quarterly dividend by 28.60% to 22.50 cents per share. Walgreen Co. is a dividend aristocrat, which has increased its quarterly dividend in each of the past 36 years. The stock currently yields 2.10%. National Retail Properties, Inc. (NNN) is a publicly owned equity real estate investment trust. The firm acquires, owns, manages, and develops retail properties in the United States. National Retail Properties increased its quarterly distributions by 1.30% to 38.50 cents per share. This dividend achiever has increased quarterly distributions for 22 years in a row. Yield: 6% Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (PAA) engages in the transportation, storage, terminalling, and marketing of crude oil, refined products, and liquefied petroleum gas and other natural gas-related petroleum products (LPG) in the United States and Canada. This master limited partnership increased its quarterly distributions to 98.25 cents per unit. Plains All American Pipelineis a dividend achiever which has increased its quarterly distributions in each of the past 11 years.12... Read more